Cleaning machine

ABSTRACT

A cleaning machine according to which work, such as articles of clothing, is cleaned with a suitable cleaning liquid which may be either a washing liquid or a dry-cleaning solvent. This liquid is continuously circulated along a closed path in one direction through the interior of a container for the work and in an opposite direction at the exterior of the container so that the work is cleaned by a liquid which moves at all times in only one direction with respect to the work. The structure of the container is such that it acts as a centrifugal pump for generating a centrifugal force to circulate the cleaning liquid. Part of this liquid can be circulated along a second path before returning to a tank for the liquid, and along this second path this recirculated part of the liquid is subjected to a treatment which improves the cleaning action of the cleaning liquid.

United States Patent 1 1 1111 3,815,387 Murgo June 11, 1974 CLEANING MACHINE 76.034 7/1961 France 68/151 4 3 [75] Inventor: Felice F. Murgo, Albany, NY. L016 5 8/952 France 68/148 [73] Assignee: M.B.K. Internationale Ltd., Albany, Primary ExaminerHarvey C. Hornsby 1 NY. Assistant E.\'aminerPhilip R. Coe [22] Filed: Apr. 3, 1972 Attorney, Agent, or F1rmSte1nberg & Blake [2]] App]. No: 240,358 [57] 7 ABSTRACT A cleaning machine according to which work, such as [52] US. Cl. 68/23.3, 68/148 rti les f l hing, i cl an wi h a suitable cleaning [51] Int. Cl D06f 23/04, D06f 37/24 liquid which may be either a washing liquid or a dry- [58] Field of Sear h 68/23, 23 3, 151, 148, cleaning solvent. This liquid is continuously circulated 68/18 R, 18 F, 17 R; 210/363, 364, 365, 366, along a closed path in one direction through the inter- 367 ior of a container for the work and in an opposite direction at the exterior of the container so that the [56] References Cited work is cleaned by a liquid which moves at all times in UNITED STATES PATENTS only one direction with respect to the work. The structure of the container is such that it acts as a centriful,390,678 9/l92l Laney 68/151 1 f I f 1,795,006 3/1931 Boiney. 68/18 R pump or ens t a cent" P to 2 044185 6/1936 Pugh 68/l8 R X late the cleaning liquid; Part of this liquid can be c1r- 23930216 3/1960 cazzamga 63/154 X culated along a second path before returning to a tank 3,306,082 2 1967 Hasegawa 613 68 3 x for the liquid, and along this second path this recircu- 3.336,7 67 8/1967 MacKenzie etal.... 68/17 R X lated part of the liquid is subjected to a treatment 3,557,579 l/l967 Marshall 68/148 X which improves the cleaning action of the cleaning liq- FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 72,302 1 1/1959 France 68/148- 2 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures M lllI. l l l lll CLEANING MACHINE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to the cleaning of work in the nature of fabric, articles of clothing, and the like.

Work of this nature is conventionally cleaned as by treatment with a suitable washing liquid or as by treatment with a suitable dry-cleaning solvent.

' While it is.known to provide for home use washing machines for washing work of the above type with a washing liquid, it is not possible at the present time to carry out dry-cleaning operations in the home. Different machines are presently required for dry cleaning and washing of work such as articles of clothing.

Conventional washing machines of this type are operated by suitableprogramming devices in such a way as to bring about washing of the work by agitating the latter with suitable agitating blades. The disadvantage of this type of construction is that the agitation of the work causes frictional rubbing of the fabric resulting in undesirable wear of the latter during the washing operations.

Also, with conventional machines of the above type the cleaning power of the cleaning liquid rapidly diminishes and it is not possible to regulate this cleaning power during the washing operations.

A further disadvantage of conventional machines and methods resides in the fact that some of the work, such as articles of clothing near the top of a washing container, remain undesirably at the top and may be only partly contacted by the cleaning liquid so that all washing of all of the work is not assured.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is accordingly a primary object of the present invention to provide a machine which will avoid the above drawbacks.

In particular, it is an object of the present invention to provide a machine which can be used either for cleaning work with a washing liquid or for dry cleaning work with a suitable solvent.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a machine capable of cleaning the work without undesirable frictional rubbing of the fabric which forms the work.

The objects of the present invention also include the provision of a machine which will provide an assured cleaning of all of the work irrespective of where the work is initially located in a container of the machine.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a machine capable of improving the cleaning power of the cleaning liquid during the cleaning operations.

An additional object of the present invention is to provide a relatively simple rugged machine which can be programmed so as to operate automatically to carry out a predetermined cycle of cleaningoperations.

Also, the objects of the present invention include the provision of a machine capable of efficiently cleaning tank means which serves to hold the cleaning liquid while the container means serves to hold the work which is to be cleaned. The tank means and the container means form a pair of means at least one of which is rotatable with respect to the other by a suitable drive means, and this one means which rotates generates a centrifugal force for driving the cleaning liquid along a closed path in one direction through the interior of the container means and in an opposite direction along the exterior of the container means through a gap between the latter and the tank means.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS The invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings which form part of this application and in which: 7

FIG. 1 isa partly schematic sectional elevation of a machine according to the invention for performing the method of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic representation of the manner in which the machine of the invention operate in connection with dry-cleaning operations; and

FIG. 3 is a schematic representation of the manner in which the machine of the invention may operate for washing of the work.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS With the machine of the invention it is possible to use the same machine either for conventional washing operationswith a suitable washing liquid or for dry cleaning of the work with a suitable solvent. Thus, for washing work such as articles of clothing with a washing liquid, the cleaning liquid takes the fonn of water at a suitable temperature having a suitable cleaning agent to dissolve therein such as suitable detergents, soap, or the like. When used for dry-cleaning opera tions, the cleaning liquid takes the form of a suitable atoxic solvent in the form, for example, of halo-alkyl compounds such as, for example, trichlorotrifluoroethane. As will be apparent from the description which follows the machine of the invention are particularly adapted for household use, so that not only can superior washing take place in the home but in addition dry-cleaning operations can take place in the home.

As will be apparent from the description which follows, the work, such as articles of clothing, is treated by the cleaning liquid in such a. way, with the machine of the invention, that there is no undesirable rubbing of the work and the work is stirred in the cleaning liquid while rising and falling therein to bring about a highly effective, thorough cleaning action.

Referring to FIG. 1 the machine of the invention which is illustrated therein includes an outer shell or housing 1 carried on a base 2 by way of suitable brackets 3. 4

The base 2 supports a framework 4 which extends upwardly from the base 2 and which serves to fixedly mount a ring'5 which is horizontal and surrounds a central vertical axis of the machine. This ring 5 is formed with apertured hemispherical seats 6 uniformly distributed about the-axis which passes vertically through the center of the ring 5. A plurality of balls 7 are seated in the hemispherical-seats 6, respectively, and these balls 7 respectively have fixed thereto threaded shanks 8 which extend through the openings in the hemispherical seats and are respectively threaded into unillustrated nuts which are embedded within cylindrical elastie bodies 9 which may be made of rubber, for example. At their ends distant from the balls 7 the several solid elastic bodies 9 are connected to balls 10 in the same waythat the bodies 9 are connected to the balls 7, respectively. Theseballs 10 are respectively seated in hemispherical seats 1 1 which are apertured so that the shanks fixed to the balls 10 can extend through these seats, these lower hemispherical seats being formed in a bottom outwardly flaring substantially conical flange of a tubular member 12 which is fixed coaxiallly to the exterior of a tubular extension 13 extending from the bottom tapered end 14 of a tank means 15.

Fixed to and extending along the interior of the tubular extension 13 of the tank means 15 is a tubular prolongation 16 of the outer housing of an electric motor 17 having two windings, one for fast rotary driving during centrifuging of the articles for squeezing cleaning liquid out of the latter and the other for slow speeds of rotation during the cleaning operations. The motor 17 has an output shaft-18 extended coaxially along the interior of the housing prolongation 16 and supported for rotary movement by suitable bearings 19 carried by the prolongation 16 in the interior thereof. The upper end of the output shaft 18 of the motor 17 enters into and is fixed to a tubular extension 20 situated at and fixed integrally with the bottom end of an inner container means 22 which is situated within and spaced from the outer tank means 15 for rotation therein. This tubular extension 20 has an axiscoinciding with the common axis of the tank means 15 and the container means 22 and forms an integral extension of the conical bottom end wall 21 of the container means 22. The bottom end of the container means 22 which is formed by its lower wall portion 21 is in the form of a conical wall formed with perforations 23 distributed over the bottom end 21 so that the interior of the container means 22 communicates with the interior of the tank means 15.

The motor 17 and its shaft 18 forms a drive means for rotating the container means 22 within the tank means 15, and this container means 22 has a construction which enables it to act in the manner of a centrifugal pump for generating a centrifugal force which centrifugally impels the cleaning liquid along a closed path upwardly through the gap between the container means 22 and the tank means 15 and then downwardly through the container means 22 so that the cleaning liquid moves only in one direction, namely downwardly, with respect to the work within the container means 22. In order to contribute toward this centrifugal action which is achieved by the rotating container means 22, the latter has fixed to its perforated bottom wall 21, at the exterior of the latter between the bottom wall 21 and the tank wall 14, impeller blades or vanes 24 which are respectively situated in planes whichcontain the common axis of the tank means 15 and container means 22 and which are uniformly distributed about this common axis. These impeller vanes or blades 24 which are fixed to the lower exterior surface of the bottom wall 21 of the tank means 22 not only are uniformly distributed about the common axis 'of the tank means 15 and container means 22, in addition they are tapered and have their wider ends adjacent to this common axis while becoming gradually narrower in a direction away from the common axis, as illustrated in FIG. 1.

in order to fix the shaft 18 of the drive means to the basket which forms the container means 22, the shaft 18 has an upper threaded end receiving a nut 25 which tightly secures the container means 22 to the drive shaft 18. A rubber cover member 26 is fixed in the lowermost interior portion of the container means 22 covering the nut 25 in a fluid-tight manner. This rubber cover 26 covers the nut 25 and is secured in position by forcing one side of the cover member 26 into the opening 28 which receivesthe nut 25.

The container'means 22 has a non-perforated cylindrical side wall 29 extending upwardly from the outer periphery of the tapered perforated bottom end 21 of the container means 22. This cylindrical side wall 29 terminates at its upper edge. which defines a top open end of the container means 22, in a curved tubular or channel-shaped portion which fixedly carries a relatively heavy ring 30 which serves to balance the container means 22 during rotation thereof as well as to increase the mass of the rotating container means 22 and thus achieve in this way a gyroscopic self-balancing effect. The cylindrical side wall 29 of the container means 32 is fixed to the outer periphery of the tapered bottom end 21 in any suitable way as by being formed integrglly therewith or as by being welded thereto.

The outer tank means 15 has not only the lower portion 14 but also the upper portion 31 fixed to and extending upwardly from the lower portion 14. This upper portion 31 is releasably securedto the lower portion 14 as by providing the upper end portion 14 and the lower end portion 31 with outwardly directed circular flanges 32 which are bolted together with a suitable sealing ring situated therebetween. This upper portion 31 is substantially cylindrical and surrounds the cylindrical non-perforated wall 29 of the inner container means 22 with clearance so that there is defined between the inner container means 22 and the outer tank means 15 a gap which extends not only'between the lower tapered bottom walls of the tank and container means but also between the cylindrical side walls thereof. At its upper end the side wall 31 is provided with an annular baffle 33 in the form of a channel of substantially S-shaped cross section which extends, at an outer part of substantially semicircular cross section with clearance around the top circular edge of the container means 22, this circular baffle 33 having inwardly from the cylindrical wall 31 a downwardly directed ta- I pered portion extending into the container means at its top open end to an elevation somewhat beneath the extreme upper edge of the container means, as illustrated. This baffle 33 is spaced at all times from the ring 30 and the curved lip at the top edge of side wall 29 which extends around the ring 30.

At its inner periphery the baffle 33 is fixed with an upwardly extending tubular prolongation 34 which is connected through a resilient bellows unit 35- with a circular downwardly directed flange 37 of a panel 36, this flange 37 defining a central opening 38 of the panel 36. The panel 36 forms part of the shell or outer housing 1. Thus, the panel 36 forms the top wall of the housing or shell 1, and this panel 36 thus forms a top wall 39 for the washing machine, this wall 39 being depressed so as to have a dished configuration as illustrated in FIG. 1, with the opening 38'situated at the lowest part of the dished top wall 39 of the shell 1.

Thus, it will be seen that the elastic bodies 9 form together with the structure connected thereto an elastic support means supporting the outer tank means 15 and the inner container means 22 for free vertical movement along their common vertical axis in such a way that as the load within the container means 22 increases the elastic means 9 becomes distended to a greater extent with the entire container means and tank means surrounding the latter gradually assuming a lower elevation. In this way the rotary inner container means is supported for free floating movement with respect to its vertical axis. Because the drive means 17 is carried directly by the outer tank means this drive means necessarily moves vertically with the tank means, and of course the bellows 35 enables the connection between the tubular flanges 34 and 37 to remain undisturbed during up and down movement of the container means and the outer tank means therewith. The result is that the machine of the invention adjusts itself automatically to any given load which includes not only the articles worked on but the fluid which is used to clean the articles, and an exceedingly effective balance is achieved with this construction.

The wall 39 can be provided with one or more depressions 40, shown in dot-dash lines at the left part of wall 39 in FIG. 1, and these depressions 40 can serve as reservoirs for detergents or other washing agents. A conduit 41 communicates with each depression or recess 40 and through a suitable electrovalve is controlled as by a conventional programming structure for controlling the flow of detergent from a suitable supply into a depression 40in order to subsequently flow from the latter into the container means through the tank prolongation 34.

The lower wall 14 of the tank means has a tubular outlet 42 to which a suction pipe 43 is connected, this pipe 43 communicating with the inlet of a discharge pump 44 driven by a suitable electric motor which is not illustrated and provided with an outlet conduit 45 which communicates with any suitable drain.

At its top end the washing machine is closed by a cover plate 46 pivoted at 47 and having a handle at its right end, as shown in FIG. 1. Between the tubular extension at the bottom end of the inner container means 22 and the lowermost part of the tank wall 14, just above the prolongation, 13 thereof, are located suitable sealing glands 48 for fluid-tightly retaining liquid in the tank means, preventing this liquid from falling down onto the bearings 19 while at the same time the tubular extension 20 can rotate with the remainder of. the inner container means 22.

The machine described above and illustrated in FIG. 1 operates, in accordance with the method of the invention, in the following manner:

The work, which may take the form of any fabric, articles of clothing, or the like, is introduced into the inner container means 22 through the open top end thereof. The unillustrated programming device is energized for automatically controlling the washing cycle. The conduits 41 are connected with the water mains to receive therefrom the washing liquid which flows through the depressions 40 and into the container means 22 in order to communicate through the perforated bottom wall 21 thereof with the interior of the tank means 15 so that this tank means serves to retain the washing liquid. When the supply of washing liquid delivered in this way to the interior of the tank means 15 reaches a given level, the supply of washing liquid is automatically terminated as by way of a suitable switch such as a pressure switch which is not illustrated and which operates in a known way to turn off the supply of water when the desired level thereof is reached.

Then the inner container means 22 is rotated by the drive means 17, 18 according to a predetermined program, this container means 22 being rotated first in one direction for a given interval and then in an opposite direction for a given interval, with intermediate intervals or dwell periods being provided for the container means 22 between its rotation first in one direction and then in the other direction, if desired.

While the inner container means 22 rotates the blades 24 centrifugally impel the washing liquid upwardly in the direction of the arrow A through the gap between the outer tank means 15 and the inner container means 22, and when the liquid reaches the upper edge of the inner container means 22, the baffle 33 directs the liquid back down into the interior of the container means 22 in fan-shaped fashion with the liquid which centrifugally flows over the top edge of the inner container'means being formed by the baffle 33 into a conical sheet which is directed down into the container means 22. The liquid which is introduced in this way into the container means impinges on the work therein and then flows out through the apertures 23 in the bot tomwall 21 to again flow along the above-described closed path according to which all of the liquid is continuously circulated first upwardly along the exterior of the container means and then downwardlyalong the interior thereof so that in this way the work is engaged by cleaning liquid which flows at all times in only one direction, namely downwardly, with respect to the work. Thus the washing liquid is continuously circulated in this way along the closed path upwardly along the exterior and downwardly along the interior of the container means. Because of the centrifugal action of thin film or layer of liquid is maintained at all times along the inner surface of the container means to avoid direct contact between the work and the wall of the container means so that frictional rubbing of the work is avoided in this way. At the same time because of the shape of the container means and the centrifugal action therein the work which is buoyed up by the liquid continuously rises along the side wall of the container means and falls down toward the center thereof so that the work is continuously lifted and permitted to drop through the washing liquid as the latter circulates downwardly through the interior of the container means. Thus articles at the bottom of the inner container means will be raised up along the interior thereof through the centrifugal action while the downwardly falling liquid will impinge on the articles to contribute to the falling of the previously raised articles bringing about in this way a highly effective movement of the articles together with a highly effective washing thereof. Electrical resistances which are not illustrated may be provided at the bottom of the tank in order to maintain the washing liquid at a desired temperature, these resistances being controlled in a suitable manner by the programming device which is not illustrated. These resistances may be energized prior to or during rotation of the inner container means 22 in order to heat the washing liquid.

When the initial washing operations are completed, after the above operations have been carried on for a suitable interval determined by the programming device, the dirty water is exhausted out of the tank means by operation of the pump 44 which is controlled by the programming device Then the rinsing operations are carried out. These operations consist of repeatedly introducing clean rinse water into the tank means through the supply conduits 41, with the inner container means 22 again being rotated during the rinsing operations, and successive bodies of rinsing water are successively discharged by the pump 44 as they become dirty. Thus, clean water is introduced and the container means 22 is rotated to bring about 'the rinsing action. after which this water is discharged and another body of rinsing water is introdu'ced, the number of rinsing cycles being controlled by the programming device.

' After the last rinsing cycle the pump 44 continues to operate while the drive means 17, 18 continues to rotate the inner container means 22, but at this time the fast winding of the motor 17 is energized so that the inner container means 22 is rapidly rotated for spindrying or centrifuging of the work to squeeze liquid out of the latter.

After a predetermined spin-drying interval determined by the programming device the washing operations are completed, and thework is removed from the machine.

In order to carry out dry-cleaning operations with the machine described above and shown in FIG. 1, a circuit as illustrated in FIG. 2 can be used. The inner container means22 and the outer tank means 15 are diagrammatically illustrated in FIG. '2 but'have the same construction asdescribed above in connection with FIG. 1.

The solvent or dry-cleaning liquid is stored in a suitable reservoir 60. This reservoir has an outlet conduit 61 controlled by an electrovalve 62. This conduit 61 is connected to the suction inlet of a pump P. The pump P delivers the pumped liquid along a conduit 63 through a filter 64 in order to regenerate or clean the solvent. This filter unit 64 may comprise active carbon, filtering earth (benthonite) and the like. The conduit 63 can return the filtered solvent through a valve 65 to the reservoir, 60. However, it is also possible for the conduit 63 to deliver the filtered solvent through a valve 66 along a branch from the conduit 63 which discharges the solvent back into the tank means 15. This tank means 15 communicates with the suction side of the pump P through a conduit 67 controlled by a valve By opening the valves 62 and 66 while maintaining the valves 65 and 68 closed, through operations of the programming device, the solvent from the reservoir 60 is delivered to the tank 15 for the dry-cleaning operation. After the desired amount of solvent is charged into the tank means 15, the valve 62 is closed and the valve 68 is opened while the pump P continues to operate. Then the dry cleaning operations are carried out while the inner container means 22 is driven by the drive means 17, 18 as described above. In this way the major part of the solvent in the tank means 15 will be centrifugally circulated along a closed path downwardly through the inner container means 22 and upwardly along the gap between the latter and the tank means 15 as described above. However, simultaneously part of the cleaning liquid will flow through the open valve 68 and the pump P to be delivered through the conduit 63 to the filter 64 in order to be regenerated thereby, and this part of the cleaning liquid is thus continuously circulated during the cleaning operations along a second closed path, this second closed path coinciding with part of the first ciosed path since the recirculatedpart of the liquid which is subjected by the filter unit 64 to a treatment which enhances the cleaning powers thereof joins the part of the liquid circulating in the tank means 15 when the regenerated part of the cleaning liquid flows beyond the valve 66 and back into the tank 15.

When these operations are completed, as determined by the programming device, the valve 66 is closed and the valve 65 is opened; so that the solvent which now discharges from the tank means 15, instead of being recirculated back to the tank means 15, is delivered back to the reservoir 60 flowing at this time through the valve 68, the conduit 67, the pump P. the filter unit 64 and the valve .65 into the reservoir 60.

The conduit which carries the valve 66 and discharges into the tank may be the conduit 70 which is illustrated in FIG. 1.

Instead of using a liquid circuit as shown in FIG. I, it is possible to use a circuit as shown in FIG. 3. This circuit of FIG. 3 is particularly suitable when using liquid detergents and liquid coadjuvants thereof. According to this embodiment the recesses 40 and conduits 41 are omitted. The water from the mains is supplied into the tank means from a supply conduit 71 which is conunder pressure to an ejector 73. This ejector 73 has a suction side provided with a conduit 74 which is con trolled by a valve 75. A plurality of. conduits 76 communicate with the conduit 74 upstream of the valve 75, and these conduits 76 are respectively controlled by valves 77. The several conduits 76 are supplied with different liquid ingredients from the reservoirs 78, respectively. The ejector 73 delivers the liquid from the pump P to a mixing reservoir 79, and along with this liquid there is delivered to the mixing reservoir 79 one or more of the ingredients from the reservoir 78, depending upon the ingredients selected. "In accordance with the selected ingredients the corresponding valves 77 will be opened, and of course the valve is also opened so that the ejector will suck the desired ingredients to add them to the liquid pump out of the tank means 15. These selected ingredients are then mixed with the water in the mixing reservoir 79 from where the solution is delivered through a conduit 70 back into the tank means 15. The conduit 70 has a control valve 80 which is opened during these operations. If desired the mixing reservoir 79 may be dispensed with and instead the ingredients selected from the reservoir 78 can be mixed directly with the water from the tank in the pipe which is downstream of the ejector 73.

Thus, it will be seen that with the embodiment of FIG. 3 there is also a continuous circulation of the washing liquid along a closed path downwardly through the container means 22 and upwardly along the exterior thereof as described above in connection with FIG. 1. Simultaneously, however, part of this liquid is pumped through the ejector along a second closed path which coincides with part of the first closed path, and this part of the liquid which is circulated along the second path is subjected to a treatment which improves its cleaning power, this treatment in this case involvingthe addition to the liquid of one or more of the ingredients in the reservoirs 78. i

The embodiment of FIG. 3 is provided with a discharge pipe 81 communicating with any suitable drain and controlled by a valve 82.

Thus, with this embodiment when additional ingredients are to be added to the washing liquid the pump P is operated, the valves 75 and 80 are opened, and one or more of the valves 77 are opened depending upon the selected ingredients.

At the end of a washing cycle or at the end of a rinsing cycle, when it is desired to empty the washing liquid from the machine, the pump P is also operated, but at this time only the valve 82 is opened. All of the other valves are maintained closed while the liquid is emptied from the machine.

It is to be emphasized that the circuits shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 are not necessarily mutually exclusive either with respect to each other or with respect to the circuit of FIG. 1. Thus the embodiment described above and shown in FIG. 1 can be incorporated together with the embodiments of FIGS. 2 and 3 into a single machine so that the machine of the invention can be operated either to carry out normal washing operations as shown in FIG. 1 and described above, or to carry out washing operations in the manner shown in FIG. 3 and described above, or to carry out dry-cleaning operations as described above in connection with FIG. 2.

What is claimed is:

1. In a cleaning machine, outer tank means for holding a cleaning liquid and inner container means situated within and spaced from said outer tank means for holding work to be cleaned, said inner container means having a hollow interior communicating with the interior of said tank means and being rotatable with respect to said tank means for generating a centrifugal force which moves the cleaning liquid along a closed path in one direction along the interior of said container means and in an opposite direction along the exterior of said container means within said tank means, so that the work in said container means is cleaned by cleaning liquid which moves only in a given direction with respect tothe work, drive means operatively connected to said container means for rotating the latter with respect to said tank means, and elastic support means carrying said tank means and supporting the latter for free vertical movement along a common vertical axis of said tank means and container means in response to the weight carried by said tank means and container means so that both said tank means and container means automatically orient themselves vertically while being freely supported by said elastic support means, said elastic support means including a plurality of elongated cylindrical elastic bodies distributed about the common axis of said container means and tank means, said elastic bodies each being connected at opposite ends to a pair of ball and socket joints forming a series of lower ball and socket joints and upper ball and socket joints, said outer tank vmeans being connected to and forming part of said lower ball and socket joints while said upper ball and socket joints form part of a framework from which said tank means and all of the structure carried thereby is suspended elastically by said elastic bodies.

2. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said cylindrical elastic bodies are made of rubber. 

1. In a cleaning machine, outer tank means for holding a cleaning liquid and inner container means situated within and spaced from said outer tank means for holding work to be cleaned, said inner container means having a hollow interior communicating with the interior of said tank means and being rotatable with respect to said tank means for generating a centrifugal force which moves the cleaning liquid along a closed path in one direction along the interior of said container means and in an opposite direction along the exterior of said container means within said tank means, so that the work in said container means is cleaned by cleaning liquid which moves only in a given direction with respect to the work, drive means operatively connected to said container means for rotating the latter with respect to said tank means, and elastic support means carrying said tank means and supporting the latter for free vertical movement along a common vertical axis of said tank means and container means in response to the weight carried by said tank means and container means so that both said tank means and container means automatically orient themselves vertically while being freely supported by said elastic support means, said elastic support means including a plurality of elongated cylindrical elastic bodies distributed about the common axis of said container means and tank means, said elastic bodies each being connected at opposite ends to a pair of ball and socket joints forming a series of lower ball and socket joints and upper ball and sockeT joints, said outer tank means being connected to and forming part of said lower ball and socket joints while said upper ball and socket joints form part of a framework from which said tank means and all of the structure carried thereby is suspended elastically by said elastic bodies.
 2. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said cylindrical elastic bodies are made of rubber. 